Over the past couple of years, I’ve become quite the online shopper. I compare prices, read reviews, track the shipments, get irrationally angry when my package’s ETA gets delayed…

Assuming that doesn’t happen today, I’ll get home from work and excitedly open the boxes… as an adult, brown packing tape = wrapping paper.

I could video my unboxing and put it on YouTube.

I won’t.

But I could.

I read recently about another person – a child this time – who makes a gazillion dollars from his YouTube channel. See, he’s got such a ridiculously large and loyal following that third-party advertisers pay for the chance to get their brand in front of that audience.

And, what is this audience watching, you ask?

…

They’re watching the kid open boxes. Toys, mostly.

We’ve gone from encountering our own adventures to living vicariously through strangers doing mundane things.

No wonder we are experiencing a “significance complex.”

All this month on The Wake Up Morning Show, my friends Kevin and Haleigh are talking about making 2019 a year of significance. I step into the morning show when one of them is out and I’ve gotten to be a part of offering a few ideas myself. And believe me, I’m very much talking to myself, because I desire significance too.

Isn’t it interesting how significance rarely happens spontaneously. It usually takes a bit of planning… or at least a decision to be looking for an opportunity.

And that’s just half of it.

When that moment comes, whether through planning or circumstance, you have to be present, in the experience. God is. And he may have something significant for you in that experience. Or, something significant for someone else, and the significance for you is getting to be a part of it.

It’s a great way to learn, to grow, to feel like you’re a valuable part of a bigger legacy. I get so much more out of the experiences I’ve had (and continue to have) with my Dad and Mom than from any lecture.

That’s why I’m asking God to “father” me through the things I experience this year. To help me be patient and present. To devote a little less time to mindless screen time and a little more time just, well, doing stuff, in hopes of happening upon more opportune moments that He will make significant in a very personal way. To be INSPIRED by others, yes, but to LIVE the life he has for me.

Because it’s hard to get real significance from someone else’s experiences.